BLACKSTAR SYMPHONY: The Music of David Bowie with SLSO comes to Stifel Theatre on February 7!

Donny McCaslin, Artistic Director
Tim Davies, conductor
John Cameron Mitchell, guest artist
Gail Ann Dorsey & David Poe, vocalists

Tim Lefebvre, bass
Jason Lindner, keyboard
Nate Wood, drums

A musical masterpiece reborn. BLACKSTAR SYMPHONY celebrates David Bowie’s final, critically acclaimed album Blackstar—plus iconic Bowie songs like “Space Oddity,” “Life on Mars,” and “Heroes”—reimagined for orchestra and performed by the SLSO with the original Blackstar band. This electrifying theatrical experience features Grammy–nominated composer Tim Davies as conductor, Bowie’s longtime bandmate Gail Ann Dorsey, drummer Nate Wood, vocalist David Poe, and special guest John Cameron Mitchell.

This concert is a unique and singular interpretation of Bowie hits and the music of the Blackstar album, which Artistic Director Donny McCaslin and his jazz quartet created with him. Prepare to be transported through Bowie’s musical landscape, each song a testament to the enduring legacy of the Starman himself.

A few things to know:

Actor, playwright, screenwriter, and director John Cameron Mitchell—creator and star of the 2001 film Hedwig and the Angry Inch—adds his unique theatrical flair to the BLACKSTAR Symphony as a guest artist.

Blackstar, David Bowie's 27th album, was released on his 69th birthday. He died two days later, following an 18-month battle with cancer. Rolling Stone Magazine declared, “The arty, unsettling Blackstar is Bowie's best anti-pop masterpiece since the Seventies.”

Donny McCaslin (Artistic Director, Co-Music Director) is best known as the saxophonist on David Bowie’s Blackstar. The noted composer and bandleader has released a dozen albums over his genre-defying, Grammy-nominated career. McCaslin began playing at age 12, and as a teenager, performed in his vibraphonist father's band in Santa Cruz. By high school, he had appeared multiple times at the Monterey Jazz Festival.